Category Archives: Progress

A Good End to a Challenging Week

I had a rough week. You could probably tell by my last post. But fortunately it has ended better than it began. I feel like I have really gotten my running on track this week, which is good, because I have a half marathon on Thursday. I am very excited about it actually, and I am working on my game plan to make sure I am prepared. I am hoping to finish in under 2:42:15, as that was my time at the Disney World Marathon… I finished in 2:45:05 for the Half Marathon, and then ran faster the next day… oddly enough.

I’ll keep you updated on this week’s progress…

Walt Disney World Half Marathon Review

Half Marathon CourseI am super excited, because I have been waiting for almost 2 months now to give you a review of the Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon. The reason for the delay is that I have been waiting to get my marathon photos. The CD arrived today, and I am happy to share them with my blog readers.

After a 2 am wake up call, we arrived at Epcot  just before 3. When a race starts at 5:35 am, you have to get going pretty early to be ready to run 13.1 miles. After weaving my way through a very congested pre-race area, I walked the near mile trail to the start line to wait in a corral for another hour. The pre-race process at Disney is very taxing! I finally crossed the start line about 6:05 am, and the congested feeling that had been present all morning continued on the race course.

I have posted a map of the course. From the start of the race, we head straight on Epcot Center Drive, and then proceed on the ramp to World Dr. The course was so congested here that I was ready to scream. The combination of a very full race (27,000+people) and a narrowing course caused me some major problems. While I used the Galloway method to complete the Goofy Challenge over this weekend, I run quite a bit faster than many of the folks I was 725161_1015_0002corralled with. I was walking because I simply couldn’t get by people, not because I wanted to. By mile 5, we were in the Magic Kingdom, where I dropped off my tech shirt to my mom near the castle, and moved along the course.

I finished this race strong, but disappointed and frustrated that I felt stifled by the crowd. My finish time was 2:45:05, which was my goal actually. I was excited and frustrated to think that I could have easily run that race a lot faster had I not been held back by the thick crowd of runners.

The rest of the day was spent sleeping, relaxing and refueling for the big day that was coming. My body felt pretty good for having run 13 miles, but my feet were a bit sore. Mom ordered us Outback, steaks and vegetables for dinner, and we took them back to the resort, sat by the pool and ate. After dinner that evening, I jumped in the hot tub for about 20 minutes to recover a bit. It was all the perfect combination, because the next day went splendidly…

More on the full marathon soon…

 

Back to the Grind

Valentine's Day FlowersI haven’t written since I got back from Ohio, but just so you know, I had a wonderful experience  So many people love my dad, and they came out in droves to show it. I got to see my whole family, cousins, uncles, grandma, etc. and spent quality time with all of them. My mom, of course, went out of her way to put 5 lbs. on all of us, and we all complied. I returned to San Jose exhausted, full, and ready to get back into a regular routine.

This week has definitely be ideal. I have set up a schedule, stuck to it, for the most part, and worked out a few times. The weather has been in the 60’s and wonderful for running and walks outside. I received a lovely bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s day.

I have really started to get back into lifting, with some pain no less. I forgot how much I enjoyed the weight room, but I miss lifting with Chas, or with one of my players, like I used to do at Labette. Knocking on the doorstep of 30, I have realized that it’s not what the scale says that matters. If I am working my body hard, eating right, and feel good, that is all that matters.

I am excited not to have any major plans this weekend. A little relaxation is exactly what I want right now… Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tough Week

I’m having a tough week. Work is extremely busy. I am going home to Ohio on Friday, and have to get a lot ready for my colleagues before I leave. A lot of responsibility has fallen on my shoulders for multiple projects. I am not only feeling the pressure here, but I am just feeling a little depressed lately.

School is stressing me out. I miss my dog. I miss Chas. And to be perfectly honest, sometimes I just want to lay in my bed and cry.

But you know what? I’m a big girl, and I can only have a pitty party for myself for so long. I am trying to concentrate on my routine and working out, eating habits, and schedule.

I can accomplish everything I set my mind to. I can get everything done that I need to get done. I know I just have to keep moving forward.

It’s Been Awhile

Today was my first run over 10 minutes since the marathon. Wow… I am sore. My knees, my feet, everything. I struggled. But I made it, and I am happy to be back in business per say. I am still definitely having problems with my right foot. I would guess I probably sustained a stress fracture in the foot. It was painful after the 39.3, and it definitely bothered me today.

I have been lifting a little bit, and am really enjoying myself. It something that I used to love, and hopefully I can get back into it with some intensity.

I am in the middle of my 24 day challenge, and honestly, I am not doing great. I kinda decided to break this weekend, because I was just having so much trouble, then restarting on Monday. It’s a hard thing to do…

Oh well, more to come soon.

The Infection of a Toe

My infected toe... can you tell which one it is?

My infected toe… can you tell which one it is?

Here we are, 8 days out from the biggest racing weekend of my life. While I haven’t run since then, I have worked out twice, doing the elliptical, riding the bike, and lifting. The main reason for my lack of training is because I have an infected toe… After the marathon, my toe really hurt, so I wore flip flops. A day later, I realized that I had a ginormous blister underneath my toe nail! This turned into a full blown infection by Friday, and now I am knee deep in a large dose of antibiotics. It is feeling much better though. So much so that I have signed up for a 5k next Sunday at Golden Gate Park. I am super excited about this, because I have yet to be to the city since I moved to the Bay Area. YAY!

I’m having a sort of “BLAH” day today. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all that is going on in the next few months, and a large amount of items have started to pile up on top of me. I don’t want to complain, but this is my blog, so I am going to do whatever I want.

Things that are bugging me:

My sick cat
Turning 30
School work
My thesis
I have a sunburn that is itching like crazy
Work/Selling advertising
Going home in 2 weeks

And to top it all off, I am on the Advocare 24 day challenge, day 4 to be exact, so I can’t go get junk food to make myself feel better. AHHH!

Ok, now that that is out in the open, I will end with saying that I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon today. Super excited to get my Coast to Coast medal. That will be really fun. Ok… to bed.

P.S. Believe me, I know how lucky I am that I am getting out of 40 miles with just an infected toe. I am an extremely lucky girl.

Mission: Accomplished

I am back home, back home after 39.3 miles on the roads of the Walt Disney World resort. I made it. The Goofy Challenge is complete, and I (excuse my language, but after almost 40 miles I think it is warranted) FUCKING ROCKED IT!!!! Thought I would give all my readers… if there are any… a summary of my race. So here it goes.

I have never really cared about my time when I run. It’s about completing a distance. Well that magically changed at WDW. I started the half marathon with 27,000 others on a crazy crowded course. It was jam packed with people who thought a half would be easy… very few serious runners. It was a very frustrating run, because of the crowds, and I ended up finishing in 2:45:05. My goal was 2:45:00, so I was very happy with that. I definitely thought that I could have run it 5-15 minutes faster without the mass of people I had to weed through.

I felt good the morning of the marathon, and was ready for a very hot day… A heat advisory was in effect due to the combination of temperature and humidity. As I crossed the start line, I felt amazing. Upon approaching the 5 mile mark, I realized that I was really doing great. My time was at exactly an hour, and I felt awesome. By mile 10, I was cruising. At the half way point, I realized that I had PRed from the day before, decreasing my time by 3+ minutes. It got very hot very fast on the course, and by mile 17 I started to worry a bit when I was getting the chills. I immediately made sure that my mind set was all about fluid, and I stopped at every water station there after. It continued to happen, but I was doing ok. I started really feeling the heat between mile 20 and 21, but I just slowed down a bit, and made it into Hollywood Studios with few problems. As Epcot approached, I was again cruising. It wasn’t hard, it was just a matter of continuing to move. I was nearly brain dead by the finish line, as I just couldn’t even comprehend what I had just done, but was overwhelmed with joy. I got a PR on my marathon by about 21 minutes.

So happy… I missed this amazing feeling that running give you. I am so happy to have it back, and I am not going to lose it again. More races are in my near future. Thanks for everyone’s support, kind words, and help over the past year of training. I am excited to re-evaluate my plan and continue to grow as a runner.

In the Words of Bruce Buffer…

Here We Go! I am currently sitting in the parking lot at Epcot. It is 3:14 am, and I am so ready to run this half marathon, it’s not even funny! I am so proud if myself for pushing hard enough to make the dream or running the Goofy a reality. When you work so hard for something, it makes the final experience so rewarding. But there are 2 things that are overwhelming me at the moment. The first is actually finishing all 39.9 miles with my body still intact, and the other is what I’m going to do when I get home from this. Training becomes such a huge part of your life, that’s it is super hard to be prepared for what to do next when it is finally finished.

As for now, I am going to go run…

On My Way…

Coming to you live from the Houston- George Bush International Airport… I am finally on my way to Orlando, Lake Buena Vista to be exact. I don’t know if it is nerves, or what, but I haven’t had the best day so far. I had a massive coughing fit this morning on my way to the airport. This has happened to me before, but during an interview, with the Chicago Bulls none the less. I think it is a way for my nerves to come through without acting live nerves. Thank God I haven’t thrown up yet… That tends to be a very common occurance in my life when nervousness is involved.

I left San Jose at 7 am on a flight that seemed much for like a roller coaster ride with lots of jerks, and bumps. At one point I couldn’t even keep my small glass of orange juice on my tray table. We were swaying so bad that it was going to spill any second, so I spent about 15 straight minutes holding it. By the end of the 3 hours and 50 minute flight, I was claustrophobic  extremely motion sick, and READY to get off of that plane. There are some major storms over the south right now, so I am fearing the same thing from Houston to Orlando… We will see how it goes.

My mom will be waiting there when I arrive, and I am anxious to be taken care of for a few days. Many of my Disney friends will be in attendance, and I am super pumped to see them and reconnect. Oh, and I am running 39.3 miles… and like i posted on my Facebook page yesterday, come hell or high water, I am going to run that 39.3.

Butterflies

Ok, it is really starting to set in. The self-doubt, the nervousness, and the tiny voice saying, “WTF am I doing?!?” I am really gonna run 2 very big races this weekend, and I am really starting to get nervous. I have been living on East Coast time over the last few days, getting up at 3:00 am, going to be at like 6 or 7 pm. I am going to finally pack tonight… which should have been done this weekend, but was put off because I didn’t want to feel this way any longer than I had to.

Gonna try to get a short run in tonight, then finalize stuff at work tomorrow before the big trip on Thursday. SO much to worry about, but I know it will all be fine. Heck, worst case scenario I walk, right??